What a week it’s been for Danielle ‘Ebonix’ Udogaranya, aka Dani.
The content creator, speaker, Twitch Ambassador, DE&I games consultant and self-taught 3D artist has been featured in a string of high-profile video game roles.
Firstly, she’s been included in the Ensemble talent line-up, which showcases black, asian and underrepresented ethnicities working in UK video games, and is a part of the 2024 London Games Festival which kicked off this week.
This year’s talent will be featured in various promotions, including:
- Centrepiece exhibition as part of the installations at a Trafalgar Square takeover, Saturday April 13th
- Special YouTube launch profiling the talent (see below)
- Ensemble labs, talks and panels with the cohort both in-person and online
- Showcase of the exhibition at W.A.S.D. (Thursday April 25th to Saturday April 27th, The Truman Brewery)
- Interviews with cohort members featured on BBC and GamesIndustry.Biz
- The portraits of each artist, taken for the exhibition by photographer Joshua Fray, will also be available online on the Games London website along with individual profiles
The Ensemble initiative champions game developers and creatives from a broad spectrum of roles and a wide variety of backgrounds. Curated by award-winning, bestselling author and artistic director Sharna Jackson, this year’s line-up includes experts in the fields of game production, writing, design talent management and marketing.
Ensemble relaunches at every London Games Festival with a new cohort – but each one spotlights and showcases inspiring stories in the workforce to promote diversity, advocate for new voices, and change perceptions.
Ensemble and London Games Festival are delivered by Games London, which is supported by the Mayor of London.
Ebonix is one of eight creatives selected for the 2024 Ensemble line-up. Through her gaming mods and content creation projects, she has since become an advocate for diversity and representation in gaming.
She was the first black British femme to be a Twitch Partner in 2020, and she went on to co-found Black Twitch UK, a platform established to uplift and spotlight Black British streamers. This led to the formation of the first black-focused stream team on Twitch in the UK.
The news comes a few days after Ebonix was also a part of the Guild Esports x Sky Broadband women’s gaming tournament series announcement.
The other creatives selected for the 2024 Ensemble are:
- Maja Bodenstein, writer and narrative designer
- Terrence Cua, talent specialist and manager
- Jerreau Henry, marketing manager and DEI chair
- Rafif Kalantan, co-founder and designer
- Venkatesh Krishna Murthy, entrepreneur, founder and CEO
- Dan Seto, senior communications manager
- Nareice Wint, indie developer and senior producer
Curator Sharna Jackson, who chose the eight, said: “I’m delighted to be once again curating Ensemble, for its sixth edition, with another extremely bright, bold and brilliant cohort of talent drawn across different roles in the UK games industry. Once again, we forefront the importance of a diverse industry, by demonstrating its significance in the creation of rich and intoxicating worlds and experiences for everyone.
“Vibrant and essential work is being created by black, asian and minority ethnic talent in the UK’s games industry each and every day. That needs to be celebrated – and it’s imperative that talent is attracted, developed and crucially retained by the sector for it to continue to succeed.”
Read more about them at games.london/ensemble.
Ebonix fashion collection added to The Sims 4
The Sims Twitter account said: “From the streets of London to Willow Creek, flaunt Ebonix’s classic collection of nostalgic fashion trends with the collaborative The Sims 4 Urban Homage Kit, or dazzle and delight with playful party props in the new The Sims 4.
“Dress your Sim from head to toe in unapologetic pieces inspired by a time and place near and dear to Ebonix.”
The pack will be available from April 18th 2024.
Ebonix at BAFTA Games Awards 2024
Ebonix has also been at the BAFTA Games Awards in London this evening, handing out an award.
She was alongside some big names in games such as Doom designer John Romero, Final Fantasy 16 voice actor Ben Starr and more.
The BAFTA Games Awards named Alan Wake 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk and others in this year’s list of winning games.
A year ago, Black Twitch UK and Nox Lumina held an ‘HerStory’ event to celebrate women in esports.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
